Amadou & Mariam

Welcome to Mali

2009-05-11

Amadou & Mariam's Welcome to Mali is a really cool mixture of traditional African music and contemporary music trends. The album was produced by Damon Albarn, of The Gorillaz and Blur, and he also plays many of the instruments. As one would expect, that adds a lot of depth to the record, turning otherwise basic worldbeat songs into a hybrid of modern western pop mixed with African music. When many of the songs start it sounds like anything on top 40 radio, until Mariam Doumbia's distinct voice breaks in her native language. There's nothing ordinary about these tunes, like opener "Sabali" and "Djuru, which mixes hand drumming with drum machine tracks for a nice effect.

More reviews tagged #World

  • reviewed 11/2016

    Douglas Dare
    Aforger

  • reviewed 02/2006

    ANGA
    Echu Mingua

  • reviewed 08/2016

    Ben Chatwin
    Heat & Entropy

  • reviewed 12/2009

    COREY HARRIS
    BLU.BLACK

  • reviewed 06/2005

    Celso Fonseca
    Rive Gauche Rio

  • reviewed 05/2009

    The Sway Machinery
    Hidden Melodies Revealed

Compiled by the WYCE Journalism Club

The opinions expressed in these reviews are those of the individual volunteers that submitted the article and do not necessarily reflect the views of WYCE or GRCMC; nor its staff, donors, or affiliates.